Better Place’s sudden bankruptcy announcement only a week ago left more than 900 electric car owners in Israel uncertain about the future of the cars they bought. But Captain Sunshine, a solar energy pioneer in Israel says he might be able to help save Better Place.
Zookeepers at the Giza Zoo in Egypt accidentally killed three black bears and officials then tried to cover up their negligence. A local newspaper, Al Watan, uncovered their deception and now activists are calling to close all seven government zoos due to prolonged abuse of wild animals throughout the system.
Desertification, water scarcity and food security are among the most important byproducts of rising temperatures due to increased CO2 emissions, but researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in Australia have found that higher CO2 concentrations are also greening the Middle East.
Motivation behind Turkish demonstrations is more complicated than protection of public green space. Spotty media coverage blurs underlying causes; a real-life case of not seeing the forest for the trees.
Turkey is in the news for its social protests which may also be linked to this: a new Turkish law bans late night alcohol sales and requires boozy products to be smacked with warning labels.
Shops can’t openly display intoxicating wares or sell them between 10:00 pm to 6:00 am. No more free hats and T-shirts either: alcohol producers are prohibited from sponsoring public events.
Turkey’s Muslim majority is ruled by a secular constitution, and this law (which requires presidential approval) is viewed by secular Turks as another proof of the government’s Islamic agenda.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says that the party is not restricting freedoms but rather elevating Turkey (now jockeying for European Union membership) to international standards that emphasize health and protect youth.
Turkey has sought to discourage alcohol consumption by enforcing a minimum purchasing age of 18, and by applying steep sales tax. Some private businesses endorse the scheme; Turkish Airlines banned alcohol on some of its domestic flights.
The PM is also tackling tobacco, saying at a May 31 anti-tobacco conference (held at a Convention Center near Taksim Gezi Park as the protesters were starting to demonstrate) that restricting alcohol and banning smoking in public areas had “pleased the public.”
Speaking of his past accomplishments as Mayor of Istanbul, he told the conference goers, “We banned drinking, we banned smoking. These places began to fill up. It is our duty to protect the lawful acts of the minority as well. Our people want peaceful places,” Erdoğan said.
Did he run that credo by the nearby demonstrators in Taksim Square?
Erdoğan denied that this is an alcohol ban, “What’s essential to us is the benefit of our people. I will not back down from taking steps toward the preservation of my people’s future just because someone’s fun is being interrupted,” Erdoğan added, according to Hurriyet Daily News.
In a separate but related news, Turkish Airlines is backpedaling on its recent ban on red lipstick for its flight attendants.
“Lipstick-gate” erupted last week when the airline’s Media Relations department issued a memo forbidding flight crew from wearing red or dark pink lipstick and nail polish.
The memo declared that colorful cosmetics “impairs the visual integrity of the intended look,” concluding that, “Turkish Airlines has adopted a policy that requires service personnel to use personal grooming products that are in a more muted color palate.”
But the carrier’s boss, Dr. Temel Kotil, later said the memo (prepared by “low-level” managers) was not a rule, but rather, a guideline, adding that the experience was, “Taking us one step back but we’re going four steps forward”. See Reuters.
Human rights versus rights to buy midnight cocktails; freedom of speech versus freedom to smoke; environmental protections versus cosmetic liberation: it’s good that Turkey’s got their priorities straight.
Green Prophet recently reported about alarming surges in jellyfish populations in the Mediterranean Sea. No hand-wringing yellow journalism here, the phenomenon was scientifically assessed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. Odd timing.
Earlier this year, Russian photographers Vadim Makhorov and Vitaliy Raskalov climbed the Great Pyramid of Giza, risking up to three years imprisonment (if caught) for a chance at remarkable picture-taking. They pulled a similar stunt on the rooftops of Dubai; a high-end example of “skywalking”.
It started as a peaceful protest against mall construction in Gezi park in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, and it quickly led to a full-blown protest – Arab Spring style – against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
When aid workers with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) speak to women inside Syria – many of them displaced from their homes and living in cramped collective shelters – they say they would rather do anything than get pregnant.
A new study adds to a small body of research, through which a picture is emerging: colorectal cancer, commonly known as colon cancer, strikes younger people in Egypt far more frequently than it does in Europe or the US, making it much more lethal and socially destructive.
Activists warn that a planned highway in Beirut will ruin what little is left of the city’s remaining green and historic spaces at the same time that tens of thousands of people are swarming streets throughout Turkey following a violent government crackdown on Gezi Park protestors.
The social protests currently sweeping through Turkey started with a dozen men and women who parked their tents in Gezi Park – one of the last remaining green spaces in central Istanbul – to protest a shopping mall development. One woman has died. (Update: We haven’t been able to confirm this with any major newspapers or organizations).
A giant meteorite that fell out of the sky must have held special significance for ancient Egyptians, who scientists have recently confirmed banged out a tube-shaped piece of jewelry from nickel-rich cosmic rock!
Drip irrigation technology is a key component of Israel’s agricultural success, and Netafim is one of the industry’s leaders. Founded in 1965 and currently operating in more than 100 countries, the company recently received the prestigious 2013 Stockholm Industry Award.
Nineteen-year-old Boyan Slat plans to clean the ocean, whereas most teenagers can’t even tidy their rooms. The aerospace engineering student devised a method to siphon off plastic garbage patches bulging in our seas.
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